


reveal

by kinpika



Series: thin red line [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: BH Story, Force Sensitivity, Identity Reveal, Set just after my previous one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 23:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19239544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: “So, I have to ask, what are you?”“I’m your boss,” she replies, carefully. Always carefully. Gault managed to get her talking more than she wanted to — it wasn’t some force trick either.





	reveal

**Author's Note:**

> set sometime… like a month or something, after my previous fic. i like to think my bh and gault have this relationship where he can get her talking, and she hates it, but she also kind of appreciates it, because she talks yknow. they have a good relationship. just means she has to face some things she doesn’t always want to.

“So, I have to ask, what are you?”

Catiel blinks slowly, realising she was being spoken to after a beat. Pulling away from the nice hole she’d made in the wall, she looks around until she finds Gault, propped against the wall. Whilst Mako and Torian had skirted around the issue of breaking-and-entering with little more than sincere apologies and the returning of the lightsaber, Gault had been. Well. _Gault_. A third party member, sitting on the sidelines until his moment.

Perhaps that was because he was completely aware of the way Catiel committed to a hunt, and didn’t want to test her again. She wasn’t sure how that made her felt, if she was being honest, although that was constantly pushed to the side, as for everything else. Catiel blamed her parents for her single-mindedness in that respect, at the very least. 

“I’m your boss,” she replies, carefully. Always carefully. Gault managed to get her talking more than she wanted to — it wasn’t some force trick either. That she would be able to expect, avoid even, but he just had a way with words and people. Attributed to how far he’d managed to get in life, before seeing the end of her blaster and giving up.

“Beyond that. The kiddies were talking to themselves earlier. More like arguing, pretty loudly for someone just trying to get an ear in — and you know me, I couldn’t help myself.”

Nope, she wasn’t going to be left to deal with the noise the ship was making. Away from the hole entirely, Catiel could only cross her arms, frowning a little at Gault. There was no easy way to explain the technicalities, all of them. “I’m Echani. Mostly.” Whilst dye could only cover so much, one day of not wearing the holomask and there went her entire disguise. 

Well, she figured by this point in life, most people had forgotten the intricate details of _that_ person. Still wore the contacts outside the ship, however. That habit was never going to go.

“That much _I_ could tell. Not what I’m asking though.”

Gault was wearing a grin that spoke volumes to what he had heard. She could only imagine just what Mako would’ve gotten herself riled up over, and it didn’t look like a good prospect. If Catiel wanted to, she knew she could demand Mako hand over whatever she’d found, and that would be that. End of discussion, or they leave the ship. Catiel didn’t want to run that kind of place, though. She’d been there, once, trying to find the answers while having an overbearing, overpowered overseer, breathing down their necks at the slightest cough. 

No, that wasn’t the kind of person she’d pictured herself to be. “Say what you want, or leave. I’m not fucking around.” 

His grin widened, and they both knew Gault got her good. Clearly, he wasn’t going to relish the moment for too long, as his expression darkens just a fraction. Enough to form a shift, something Catiel felt. Took some effort to kick the fight or flight reflex to the side at that emotion. “Heard they found a lightsaber in your room.”

Catiel _knew_ that she should’ve stashed that. A small amount of nostalgia had dragged the damned thing out of storage, when she’d been running numbers and files. When she’d been watching feeds and checking stories, it had _called_ to her, needing to be out and breathing. “It’s a pike. Technically.” Confirming the obvious. Hers. Hers hers _hers_. And now the next question would be ‘who are you, Catiel Jast?’

‘Who are you, and what have you done?’

“Jedi, huh? Wouldn’t have picked you for being one of those _pike_ -twirlers.” 

“Did you seriously call them ‘pike-twirlers’?” That was a new one. She’d have to remember that. But that wasn’t the issue, not really. “I’m not a Jedi.” Catiel would’ve expected that would’ve been obvious, but confirming out loud meant something. She just didn’t know who was supposed to hear it.

Gault clearly wasn’t impressed that he was going to play the game of asking probing questions in an effort to drag information out. But he did it, tone careful and purposely slow. “But you were?” Asking in such a way he expected several Jedi to drop from the ceiling and take them all in. It wasn’t fear, just apprehension. 

“Not anymore.”

“I didn’t think you could just quit like that. Don’t you go dark or something? End up like the Sith? Or dead.” There’s no question on the last statement, nor is there humour. Serious questions, warning ones. Concerning ones. Catiel had expected a confrontation somewhere down the line, but she figured it would happen in the case of slipping up. Of moving that piece of debris across a room, of forcing that security guard back. Where she overextended herself in the worst of times, and could no longer pass it off as a trick of the light or military training or enhancements. A time where the usual excuses just didn’t work anymore.

Not two of her team stumbling upon a lightsaber in her room, and sifting through the possibilities until landing on the truth. “I’m not a Sith.” That thought brought a lump to her throat. No, she could never be. Associated with them once, walking amongst the ranks but never a part of them. But that piece of information was locked up, no key. 

Catiel wasn’t going to slip up on anymore than what she’d already said. She promised herself that. Not doing a great job of it of course, but Gault was smarter than he let on more times than not. Even he could tell that he was getting a little too close, pressing a little too far in. Perhaps it was the visible discomfort, the set of her mouth, the furrowing of her brows, but Gault nodded, clearly not pleased with the direction the conversation had gone, but took it nonetheless.

“Just so we’re clear: shouldn’t expect to be hunted down by any Jedi — or Sith — anytime soon?” Gault kept the question light, joking, but Catiel knew there was a genuine concern there for him. 

So she grins, despite it being more on the stiff side than jovial, and replies. “Gault, you should know that if someone has decided to gun for me, I’m probably after them first.”

And that was the truth. Of course she watched her own listings, sometimes admiring the way amounts between planets rose and fell more often than they should. Drop a little when she did someone a favour, clearing out a particular area, and leaving just as fast. Climbed a lot more when she’d managed to get the drop on her pursuers, making the pile of credits just that more desirable for some idiot. 

Catiel had even caught Gault searching up her listing more than once. She didn’t expect him to try to double-cross her, because that was an insult to his intelligence more than anything, but it was just one of those things. 

“Comforting. I’m going to sleep very well at night now.” Whilst Gault’s tone was thick with sarcasm, she could see the relief in his shoulders when he walked away. No, he wasn’t happy with not being able to drag a confession out, but he’d settled on, well,

Whatever they’d just talked about. 

Now that she had a moment to herself, finally, thankfully, Catiel turned to look back at the hole she’d made. Installing new equipment was therapeutic and just going through motions. Of course it was too much, it always was. Just to be sure, just to be safe. Cloaking devices and additional weaponry, the ability to flag themselves as Republic vessels, Empire, even Hapan when that one time called for it. So much had been worked into the stolen ship, Catiel had forgot where it had simply been about protecting herself, and been protecting…

Ah, there was no point in trying to get back into it now. Concentration sufficiently broken, Catiel was stuck on wondering where everything simply sat. So much easier on her own, with no need to worry about the other bodies on board. But now the kitchen was stocked, and extra supplies had been rolled out to fit the comfort of not just one, but four people now. Catiel didn’t get up to an unlocked showering area, and had to work her own time in between Mako and Gault, or after Torian on late nights.

Weird to think that she wasn’t doing all this for herself. Not anymore. Now she had a crew, dare she say friends even, and well. Catiel was struggling to get used to the idea of being alone again. 

“Fuck.” 

She knew what this meant. Tools hit the floor, and Catiel walks over to the intercom, jabbing the button with more force than necessary. By the stars, she was going to be open and honest, because she _cared_. Didn’t want to cause anymore uncertainty or concern, didn’t want Mako to tiptoe around her at breakfast, guilty and afraid. Didn’t want Torian to always have her in his peripherals, always conveniently in the room, as if she might just turn on them all at any moment. And well, she didn’t want Gault to provide tidbits of information, never the full picture. 

Catiel pulls up a seat, as they appear one by one. _Here goes nothing._


End file.
